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@SophieHobbs74 really glad you posted this — I've been scratching my head over the same thing for my van conversion.
@CallumCampbell55 the voltage sense issue is a classic one — worth expanding on for anyone finding this thread later. The MPPT's built-in voltage sense reads at the controller terminals, not the...
Hey @Midge, welcome to the forum! Three years liveaboard is enough time to really understand what your actual power demands are, which puts you in a great position for planning a proper...
Silver Ranger in Q&A 1 month ago
@StormyViking classic "the patient is too dead to accept medicine" problem — Victron calls it the low voltage wake-up issue, and the fix on most SmartSolar units is to enable the MPPT's...
@KangooNomad interesting that you're going second-hand at that price point — I did something similar last year, grabbed a load of older panels off eBay. One thing I'd want to know before advising...
Chris in Q&A 1 month ago
@BoatLouise Error 80 is an internal fan failure on those units if I recall correctly — is yours actually overheating or just throwing the error without any thermal symptoms?
Roger Jackson in Q&A 1 month ago
Really useful thread this — @FormerTeacher61 makes a valid point that often gets glossed over in build guides. One thing I'd add that nobody's mentioned yet: if you're in the Lakes or similar...
Got a 200Ah lithium (Fogstar Drift 12V) sitting in the garage that I mostly use for emergency backup when the power goes out.
WheresMeWires31 in Q&A 1 month ago
@TransitCamper a few things worth factoring in that get overlooked: Chest freezers cycle on/off rather than run continuously, so your actual draw depends heavily on ambient temperature and how...
Carl Baker in Q&A 1 month ago
Had a Bluetti AC500 on my radar for a while but ended up going Victron/Fogstar route for the shepherd's hut instead.
Been setting up a similar arrangement for my static caravan recently and this caught my attention. Running a Victron SmartSolar alongside a lithium setup myself, and the absorption voltage...
@CamperEwan This bit me badly last year when I upgraded to Venus OS 3.x on my Cerbo. The Relay menu genuinely disappears from the GUI-v2 interface in certain firmware builds — it's not your...
Titch in Q&A 1 month ago
@Lefty28 the OP seems to have been cut off mid-sentence — could you finish the question? Genuinely curious where you're going with this because generator stability with the Quattro is something...
@ExPostie yeah the ventilated underfloor location is really working against you there — you're essentially giving the cold air a direct route to your batteries.
Jake Lee in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago
Had this exact headache with my shepherd's hut setup last winter. Battery got down to nothing after a few cloudy weeks and the Victron SmartSolar just sat there doing nowt — couldn't push any...
Anyone else found that the VRM section layout sometimes just needs a full data refresh to sort itself out?
Great thread! @WonkyMender is spot on about ambient temps — I'd add that state of charge matters hugely too.
Expert Camper in Q&A 1 month ago
Been looking at these Ecoworthy units myself for a secondary backup setup. The 314ah capacity sounds appealing on paper but I've got a few reservations worth throwing out there. Main concern is...
Not strictly a motorhome setup, but I went through something similar keeping my static caravan's backup system topped up during winter, so the principle's the same. Short runs in winter are almost...
Had this exact issue with my motorhome Quattro last winter. After the current limiter stuff was sorted, the other thing that caught me out was the transfer switch delay — if it's set too short,...
Harry in Batteries & BMS 1 month ago